– Trump wants Putin to agree to a truce, but he absolutely doesn't want it. However, Putin is not interested in breaking negotiations. He tries to maneuver so that these negotiations take a parallel with a military offensive – noted in proxy political scientist Sergei Markow. At the same time, Bloomberg's interlocutor close to the Ministry of Defense of Russia expressed doubts whether the Russian army would break the defense of the armed forces of Ukraine within the prescribed period. According to him, Ukrainian drones meant that Russia's extensive offensive was expensive and inefficient.
Western military analysts are of a similar opinion. – If the defense of Ukraine collapsed, gaining such an advantage would be very easy, but now such a scenario seems very unlikely – said Ben Barry, an older researcher at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Despite this, during the first in three years in direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 16 Russia demanded from Kiev with the withdrawal of troops from four regions, which it recognized as its own. The chairman of the Russian delegation Vladimir Miedinski also told the Ukrainian side that Russia is ready to fight forever.
On May 2025, the Russian army controls about 20 percent. Ukraine's territory, but almost all these achievements were achieved in the first weeks of the war. According to the Reuters agency, citing the given Institute of Institute of War Studies, under Russia's control is practically the entire Lugan region, as well as about 70 percent. territory of the Donetsk, Zaporoski and Kherson Districts.
Bloomberg writes that Putin's intention to continue the war He may persuade Trump to realize the threat and the imposition of strict sanctions on Russia. He may support the draft law on the introduction of a duty in the amount of 500 percent prepared by the Senate. for goods from buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other raw materials.
– We've warned the Russians many times in the last two months, that this will happen if there is no progress [w rozwiązaniu konfliktu] – said Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the USA on May 18, in an interview with CBS.
